Incandescent-lamp socket



(No Model.)

I. C. ROCKWELL. INGANDESGENT LAMP SOCKET.

No. 475,345. Patented May 24, 1892.

4mm w 7 NITED STATES PATENT Erica.

FREDERICK C. ROCKWELL, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

lNCANDESCENT-LAMP SOCKET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 475,345, dated May 24,1892.

Application filed February 24, 1892. Serial No. 422,603. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FREDERICK 0. Rock- WELL,a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inLamp-Sockets, of which the following is a full,clear, and exactspecification.

This invention relates to the class of keyless sockets for incandescentelectric lamps, the object being to provide a simple, small, safe, andvery cheap socket of this class that can be attached directly to theglobe of a lamp or to a base thereon.

To this end the invention resides in a shell of insulating material,having openings for the passage of the circuit-wires and bindingpostsfor their attachment in the interior so located that they make contactand complete the circuit with parts connected with the filament-leadswhen the socket is placed on the lamp, as more particularly hereinafterdescribed, and pointed out in the claim Referring to the accompanyingdrawings, Figure 1 is a side View of a socket on a lamp. Fig. 2 is aside view of a lamp with the socket in central section. Fig. 3 is a viewlooking into the socket. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a modified formof the socket, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a socket fitted foranother style of lamp.

In the views, 1 indicates the shell,which is preferably formed ofinsulating material of high non-conductivity molded and pressed to shapeunder high heat and great pressure, with a chamber 2 for the receptionof the end of the lamp. This chamber 2, which is cylindrical, may beformed with smooth walls, so that the end of the lampwill easily slipinto it, or it may in the process of formation be provided with a thread3, so that the end of a lamp may be screwed into it. Through the closedend of the socket, which is made comparatively thick, are perforations 4to provide a passage for the entrance to the interior of thecircuit-wires. Adjacent to the inner ends of these'perforations,turnin gin threaded sockets, are screws, one of which 5 is located near thecenter, so that its head may come in contact with the centralcontact-piece 7 on the end of a lamp, while the other screw 6 is locatednear one side, so as to make contact with the conducting-base S on theend of the lamp when the socket is placed thereon.

The sockets shown in Figs. 2 and 4c are adapted to be screwed upon thebase of a common style of lamp, in which one of the leads of thefilament is connected with the central contact-piece 7, while the otherlead is connected with the threaded base 8.

In Fig. 5 the head of the central bindingscrew is threaded, adapting thesocket for a common class of lamps which are attached to the globe by acentral screw that passes into a threaded socket in the base of the lampfor holding as well as furnishing one of the con- 4 tacts.

In the forms shown in Figs. 2 and 5 the circuit-wires are passed throughthe perforations into the interior and the ends bound around the screws,which are then screwed home to hold the wires and make a good contact,and when the lamps are screwed into the sockets the central screw orbinding-post is brought into contact with one of the terminals of thefilament leads and the other screw or bindingpost is brought intocontact with the other terminal. In the form shown in Fig. 5, in placeof using screws tohold the wires and make a contact, small tubes 9 ofconducting material are inserted into the ends of the perforations ormolded in the material adjacent to the interior ends of theperforations, and when the wires are passed through the perforations theends are held by small pins or wedges 10 of conducting material that fitinto the tubes. These wedges preferably have heads projecting so as tomake contact with the filament-leads terminals on the base of the lamp.hen the lamp end is screwed into the chamber of this socket, the ends ofthe wedges as they come in contact are driven firmly into the tubes, soas to make a sure contact with the ends of the circuit-wires, and theharder they go inward the more firmly will they press upon and makecontact with the contact-pieces on the end of the lamp. Of course, ifdesired, lamps may be secured in the sockets by any cementing material,as plaster-of-paris, instead of by the threads and screws.

A socket thus formed is simple, small, easily ICC connected with ordisconnected from the circuit-wires, and can be readily made for thevarious styles of lamps, to which it can be quickly attached or removed.It can be molded to shape from cheap insulating material of highnon-conductivity in a single piece, so that it is very safe, there beingno connections or conducting parts exposed.

I claim as my inven tion 1. As a new article of manufacture, a socketfor an incandescent electric lamp, consisting of a shell having a recessfor the reception of a lamp end with perforations through the shell, andbinding-contacts on the interior adjacent to the perforations adapted tomake contact between the circuit-wires and the terminals of the filamenton the lamp, substantially as specified.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a socket for an incandescentelectric lamp, consisting of a shell formed of a single piece ofinsulating material having a recess for the reception of a lamp end withperforations through the shell, and binding-contacts on the interioradjacent to the perforations adapted to make contact between thecircuit-wires and the terminals of the filament on the lamp,substantially as specified.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a socket for an incandescentelectric lamp, consisting of a shell having a recess for the receptionof a lamp end with perforations through the shell, and binding-screws onthe interior adjacent to the perforations, one of which is adapted tomake contact between one circuitwire and the center of the lamp-base andthe other between the other circuit-wire and the edge of the lamp-base,substantially as specified.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a socket for an incandescentelectric lamp, consisting of a shell having a recess for the receptionof a lamp end with perforations through the shell, tubes molded into theshell, with pins fitting said tubes and adapted to make contact betweenthe circuit-wires and the terminals of the filament on the lamp,substantially as specified.

.FREDERICK C. ROCKWELL. Witnesses:

H. R. WILLIAMS, 0. E. BUCKLAND.

